The Russellville Police Department (RPD) will take part in a national drug “take-back” event today to rid medicine cabinets of unused and unneeded medication in an effort to keep potentially hazardous drugs out of the wrong hands.

Two RPD officers will be outside Walmart between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to collect any expired, unwanted and unneeded prescription pills or other medication.

While the initiative aims to keep hazardous medications out of any irresponsible hands, RPD Public Information Officer Drew Latch said teenagers are the primary concern when it comes to prescription medication misuse.

“The biggest thing we have to deal with is misuse by teenagers, and that’s the idea of this drug take-back initiative,” he said. “We’re trying to make these prescription drugs not easy for them to find around the house. It’s just a growing issue.”

Russellville High School principal Wesley White said he doesn’t see teenagers selling prescription medications as a large issue in his school, but rather them sharing the pills with their friends.

“We haven’t had any problems with them selling, but they’ll give it to their buddies,” White said. “I don’t think they realize it’s as serious as it is.”

According to statistics gathered by the National Drug Control Strategy Program and the Prescription Monitoring Program, Arkansas was ranked seventh in pharmaceutical prescription misuse for children up to 18 years old in 2011 and is ranked fifth in Hydrocodone use. The statistics show the country has spent $53.4 billion toward issues of non-medical use of prescription drugs and emergency room visits due to prescription abuse has increased 98 percent in the last decade.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), one in five teenagers will abuse prescription drugs by the time they graduate high school.

“What we see is that [prescription drugs] are more of a problem than your illegal drugs, because [teenagers] can get them,” White said. “They’re as close as your cabinet and unfortunately, I don’t think sometimes their parents count their medication ... and probably most households have some prescription drugs.”

Last year, 189 tons of prescription drugs were collected during the drug take-back initiative, which offers a responsible, environmentally-safe way of disposing of unwanted medication, Latch said.

“Disposing of them properly is not flushing them down a toilet,” he said.

Latch said when pills are flushed down a toilet, they sometimes get stuck in waterways and don’t biodegrade.

Latch added the drug take-back event today will be confidential.

“By no means are names taken,” he said. “There will be no type of identification on this. It will be a purely confidential drop-off.”

RPD will also hand out gun locks during the take-back event, Latch said.

“Arkansas last year was one of the highest ranked states in the prescription drug pickup on national “take-it-back” day,” Latch said. “We would like to continue it again this year.”